Hi all, I haven't posted here before, but I have been reading many of the posts regularly since getting a new hamster at the start of March.
I currently have a male Syrian who is about 6 months old. I got him from Pets at Home. He is a quiet and chilled out hammy, but also a bit skittish. He is well tamed by now, not biting, and enjoys having a climb on us, but generally prefers to sleep. Adventures to his playpen usually involve him sleeping rather than playing though.
His current cage is Little Friends Langham (
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Frie...c=1&th=1&psc=1) which is 77cm x 47cm x 57cm
I know that is cage is just about the minimum, and the bedding depth at 12cm isn't amazing, but he seems to have slowly come out of his shell in the cage. He seems to prefer hidey places, hammocks, tunnels, and being hidden. He also like to have a good forage for seeds, and dried vegetables, which I scatter.
20190702_201543.jpg
20190702_201557.jpg
20190702_201633.jpg
20190702_201804.jpg
20190702_202223.jpg
I am thinking of upgrading his cage, so he can have more space to move around, but I am a bit stuck on what would be a good option. If we upgrade we were thinking of a reasonably big upgrade, and going for a cage that is 120 x 60. We have two options we are looking at. The first being the Borneo XL (
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...=AWRT7Q6PCDDEQ) and the second being this hand-made option (
https://www.hamster-homes.com/shop/s...roof-120x60cm/) with plexiglass front and sides.
As he is a quiet hammy, I am first of all not 100% sure about an upgrade. Deciding between the two is also quite difficult. I want the new cage to be suitable for future hamsters, and I would consider having dwarf hamsters in future - so the cage needs to be good for several types.
The Borneo is similar to his current and is pretty high, and I am a little concerned about being able to get a good layout in such a big cage. The bedding height would be 18cm, which is good, but not amazing.
The hand-made cage is lovely, but the inside height is 38cm, and I am worried about this being high enough to make the most of the layout. As you can see from the pictures, he has lots of hangy-things, and enjoys his shelves. The wooden base is also a concern from a hygiene perspective. Current hammy is a very clean boy though, only poops in his house and near wheel, and only uses sand to pee in. The lower ventilation with plexiglass also worries me a bit - I think he likes to smell around - but it does allow for deeper bedding in places.
Any advice?
Is such a big upgrade sensible?